Pro-Vax 'Melanie's Marvelous Measles' Gets Trolled

When you write a controversial anti-vaccination children's book like Stephanie Messenger's Melanie’s Marvelous Measles, a 2012 kids' book about "the benefits of having measles," you have to expect the one-star reviews to come rolling in from the other side. The book is getting absolutely destroyed by pro-vaccine trolls on Amazon, and... well, it's been pretty entertaining to watch unfold.

Marvelous Measles made news after a measles outbreak spread to more than 100 people this winter due to the anti-vaccination movement. Top-level experts were quick to respond with an unequivocal message: measles vaccines are safe and refusing to give one to your child is not. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Dr. Tom Frieden said on CBS' Face the Nation, "There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren't reasons to not ... Not getting your kid vaccinated is not only a risk for your own kid, but puts other vulnerable kids in your community at risk." Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy added in an interview with the Washington Post that "the most important message I have is to please, please, please get your child vaccinated ... I believe that on this topic, the science is very clear."

In the midst of the controversy, Messenger's name popped up in an article from The Guardian — an anti-vaccination campaign was cancelled and organizer Stephanie Messenger blamed it on “anti-free-speech terrorists" who had "threatened violence against venue owners and their families.” A few days later, Observation Deck published an article about Messenger's book and the strange ways misinformation about measles gets spread. The story of Melanie's Marvelous Measles quickly went viral.

So, with the profile of the book raised and opinions about vaccinations at their peak, Amazon customers are gleefully adding their comments to Messenger's book. Only, where experts kinda have to stick to measured statements and reasonable arguments, trolls can say whatever they want. So although their critiques of Melanie's Marvelous Measles may not be so useful in a debate, they’re a lot more fun to read:

Fantastic book! I can't wait for the next one. I believe the working title is: Civil War Surgery At Home. It should be riveting. – Kathy L. Zeller

As a carpenter who specializes in itty bitty coffins I can't say enough good things about this book, my customer base has been growing at an epidemic rate! – Sandra Bradley

It far surpassed the more lighthearted, "Paddie's Pre-teen Pedophilia." – MunDMC

My infant daughter went blind after contracting measles from an unvaccinated child, and yet there's no braille version of this wonderful book for me to give her someday to explain to her how awesome the disease that took her sight away is. – Seabisquick

This didn't clean my bum as well as my regular toilet paper. I'll be switching back to Charmin. – "rockonrn"

Don't overlook the lesser known Dr. Seuss books in this series - "Horton hears an air raid siren", "Oh the places you'll itch", "How the Grinch caught Chlamydia ", "And to Think That I Contracted It on Mulberry Street", "Skull Fracture Mayzie", "Hop on your remaining foot", " The 500 days in ICU of Bartholomew Cubbins", and "If I Ran the Mortuary". – Nathaniel E. Parkinson II "Nat Parkinson"

I don't often take medical advice, but when I do, I prefer to take it from someone who didn't go to college. – Don Cristobel

Looks like Amazon reviewers have a message they want to send America — let's embrace the measles the same way we would Chlamydia. Ouch.

Image: WHO